Experience, Expertise and Leading-Edge Technology Combine to Deliver a Customer-Centric Solution for Utility Debt Collection
Cupertino, Calif. and London—March 4, 2009—Chordiant Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: CHRD), the leading provider of Customer Experience (Cx™) software and services, and Capgemini UK plc, a subsidiary of the Capgemini Group, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, today announced a sales, marketing and services collaboration aimed at addressing the debt management problem currently faced by utilities providers in the United Kingdom. Together, the companies will actively market, sell and implement Chordiant’s decisioning-based debt management software, Chordiant Collections Manager, to the UK utilities industry, which is collectively owed more than £2 billion by its customers (source: Fujitsu business consulting). Capgemini’s involvement brings extensive experience implementing debt management solutions and expertise in the unique business needs of the utilities sector. The combined solution is designed to help utility companies turn their collections process into a positive experience that improves cash flow and reduces debt days while building customer loyalty.
“Capgemini has over 50 man-years of debt management experience and a deep understanding of the needs of the utilities industry,” said Gerard Egan, Executive Consultant for the Energy, Utilities and Chemicals sector, Capgemini UK plc. “Due to stringent regulation governing a utility company’s ability to enforce payment rules, debt resolution poses a unique challenge for the industry. We have been searching for some time for a technology partner we thought could have a significant and real impact on this problem. We are excited to have selected Chordiant as a partner for this project. Our expertise combined with their software aims at enabling utility companies to control the debt problem while building customer loyalty.”
“For the past two years, Chordiant has provided a leading edge collections solution for the telecommunications, insurance and banking industries,” said Chuck Altomare, Vice President, Worldwide Engineering, Chordiant Software. “Based on decisioning capabilities that adapt in real-time to a customer’s current situation, the solution is able to provide recommendations that are appropriate, fair and customer-centric, and that help the organization achieve its business goals. With Capgemini’s domain expertise and assistance, we have customized the application for the utilities market and now have an incredibly effective mechanism in place for getting it to market quickly and with maximum impact.”
Based on Chordiant Decision Management, Chordiant Collections Manager enables utilities providers to achieve the positive (for the customer) and profitable (for the business) outcomes for each collections process. Using the solution, collectors receive clear guidance as to what is required at each step of the process based upon business goals and decision logic. A centralized decision engine evaluates all available data for each customer at any given moment (including information being gathered during a live call) and determines the optimal action to take next. This action may be to confirm contact details, or to suggest the most profitable and sustainable payment plan for the customer at that time. By guiding collectors to take this Next-Best-Action™, the solution optimizes each activity in terms of business goals and customer need, as well as reducing training time.
Centralized decisioning not only ensures solutions and messages can be tailored to the individual, but that these communications are delivered consistently regardless of which channel the customer uses to contact the company. If outbound contact is required, Chordiant Collections Manager can also determine which channel will be the most effective for contacting the customer by accounting for their previous responses as well as cost and revenue factors. This helps to ensure that the cost of achieving the desired outcome is appropriately balanced against the current or potential revenue that customer may produce. Offers presented include not only payment plans but also retention elements as well for customers who represent revenue opportunities.
Chordiant Collections Manager enables best practices to be automatically disseminated throughout the call centre, ensuring compliance with legislation and ‘raising the bar’ in terms of performance. Performance can be continuously monitored, measured and controlled. Continuous improvement methodologies can be deployed as the solution’s adaptive modeling capabilities deliver ‘learning logic’ that can recognize and increase the penetration of a successful strategy.
About Capgemini
Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Capgemini provides its clients with insights and capabilities that boost their freedom to achieve superior results through a unique way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience. The Group relies on its global delivery model called Rightshore®, which aims to get the right balance of the best talent from multiple locations, working as one team to create and deliver the optimum solution for clients. Present in more than 30 countries, Capgemini reported 2008 global revenues of EUR 8.7 billion and employs over 92,000 people worldwide.
More information is available at www.uk.capgemini.com.
About Chordiant Software, Inc.
Chordiant software optimizes the customer experience, helping clients improve business results while significantly strengthening customer relationships. Chordiant’s solutions allow multi-channel interaction management and centralized Next-Best-Action™ driven predictive decisioning to target individual customer needs and provide unprecedented management and control over sophisticated customer experience strategies. Fortune 1000 customers turn to Chordiant to build, maintain and significantly strengthen connections with customers, so they can differentiate themselves from the competition and maximize their business objectives. For more information, please visit http://www.chordiant.com.
Chordiant and the Chordiant logo are registered trademarks of Chordiant Software, Inc. The Customer Experience Company, Next-Best-Action, and Cx are trademarks of Chordiant Software, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
Chordiant Media Relations Contacts:
Mo Mahmoud
Eastwick Communications
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Chordiant@eastwick.com
Capgemini
Tom Barton
+1 (650) 480-4058
Chordiant@eastwick.com
Louisa Excell
Hotwire
+44 (0)870 238 2491
tom.barton@capgemini.com
Chordiant Investor Relations Contact:
Karen Haus
Market Street Partners
+1 (415) 445-3238
chrd@marketstreetpartners.com
